I. Field of the Disclosure
The technology of the disclosure relates generally to peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe).
II. Background
Mobile communication devices have become increasingly common in current society. The prevalence of these mobile communication devices is driven in part by the many functions that are now enabled on such devices. Increased processing capabilities in such devices means that mobile communication devices have evolved from being purely communication tools into sophisticated mobile multimedia centers, thus enabling enhanced user experiences.
Data processing elements (e.g., application processors, graphic processors, etc.) in mobile communication devices rely on storage devices to store a variety of system and user data. Such storage devices may include a hard-disk drive (HDD), a solid-state disk (SSD), a universal flash storage (UFS), a universal serial bus (USB) storage device, and/or an embedded multimedia card (eMMC).
Concurrent with the increased processing capabilities of mobile communication devices, demand for data storage capacity has also grown exponentially. As a result, it is not uncommon for mobile communication devices to be embedded with storage devices that are capable of storing hundreds of gigabytes (GBs) of data. The storage devices are typically connected to the data processing elements through peripheral interfaces, such as a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface. The mobile communication devices are required to provide adequate protection against unauthorized access and/or malicious attack to the variety of system and user data stored in the storage devices. As a result, encryption is often needed when data is stored in the storage devices and exchanged between the storage devices and the data processing elements.